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RACKMOUNT CHASSIS AND OTHER HARDWARE RECOMMENDATION

C

ChiefOperator

Folks--

As you can tell from my previous posts, we're looking at an automation upgrade. While we can purchase the hardware turn-key, my IT guy prefers to roll our own machines to the specs of the automation and then possibly send the machines to the automation vendor for burn-in and configuration. My IT guy is sharp and experienced, so I have no doubt that he can complete the project.

All that said, this does raise a few questions for me. Perhaps you folks with backrounds in building systems can offer your comments--please.

1) First, we've decided to rackmount the machines, so we'll need a couple QUIET rackmount boxes. Antec makes the "studio series take 4" model apparently used by recording studios. Does anyone have any experience with this box? If not, can you recommend another? I believe 4RU is probably the way to go. Here it is:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=94004

2) We're also looking for QUIET hard drives (SATA). Any recommendations?

3) Finally, as we're looking at motherboards, video cards, RAM, and all the other hardware, do you recommend any particular brands? Or any brands to run away from? I think we'll be running an ASI card on the on-air machine, but I don't know about the production machine.

You guys have been quite helpful in my other posts (throughout the year actually).

THANKS IN ADVANCE!
 
I'll stand there and hold it for ya ;)

If I had the space, I'd consider racking all the CPU's in their own temp controlled room. If that doesn't pan out, plan B would be to see about mounting the CPU's in wooden cabinetry, the thicker the wood, the better. Also for any racked CPU, you need an air inlet vent on the front panel, to allow the fans to draw in more air.

Middle Atlantic Electronics is a brand I am quite familiar with.

R
 
I would also consider putting your computers in a separate (machine) room due to noise... The PCs themselves can be designed to be quiet, but if you ever add something like a RAID file server, it's nightmare. I have several of these and you simply can't make them quiet - too many hard disks inside which need to be adequately cooled.

For a PC, I prefer the rackmount chassis as these have favoralbe air-flow - the air from the front goes directly over any hard disks and the CPU/motherboard and out on the back. More professional (server) chassis even have those plastic ducts that regulate the airflow and you can get with just a passive heat sink on CPUs, even those like Xenons. I have one of these servers and it works very well. If a chassis has a provision for the front air filter, this is very effective in keeping the PC/server clean inside. You just replace the filter every now and then and you can't believe that there is no dust inside! You usually can't do this with RAID file servers, so they require more manual maintenance.

What you want for a PC rackmount chassis is LARGE fans which means a large chassis, like the one you suggested. You want 12cm fans as they are quiet and also more reliable. One fan in the front and one in the back, also look for a chassis that you can put an air filter on the front panel. The most quiet hard disks in my experience are Seagates and that's what I'd recommend. For security and reliability reasons, I'd put two in RAID 1 (mirror) configuration. For a CPU cooler get one of those with LARGE heatsink and LARGE fan running with low rpms, like Zalman. These provide excellent cooling and at the lowest fan speed are virtually noise free. Usually an on-board graphic card is enough for on-air use, if you go with a PCI-X graphic card do your self a favor and buy the one with passive heatsink. Those with small fans on them are very prone to making noise and other problems after just a few months.

And - trust your IT guy ;)


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
As long as your IT guru makes sure any "white-box" build meets the specs for your automation you should be safe.

I would have to agree about putting the boxes outside the studio. I had bought several "studio qualified" rack chassis boxes for my station and while they are quiet with a single hard drive, adding drives bit me bad - you can hear the noise on-air unless you really set the mic's noise gate real agressively. I've also found you can get a fairly generic rack case and use the Antec True-Power power supply with fan control and it will save you a few bucks. Best to move 'em out of the studio though.

The community FM I help out got an Enco system as part of NPR's Content Depot rollout. Besides the server being too deep to fit in the studio furniture it was way too loud! They solved the problem by putting the machines in their engineering rack room and using a keyboard/mouse/monitor switcher that works over CAT5 - a great little box, but not cheap - about $500 but well worth it in their case.
 
There's some excellent advice here. To reiterate:

1. Buy components 'blessed'by the automation manufacturer.

2. Afetr assembly, load the OS and send the manufacturer the boxes to load the automation system, burn it in, and test it.

3. Locate the boxes outside the studios. Quiet = low airflow = hot = failures.

4. Do not use CRT monitors. (although they're almost totally passe now anyway)

If you use other than 'blessed' components, you can save calling for tech support, because the unblessed parts arer ALWAYS going to be the problem. Let the maker see your boxes working in his lab. Then he doesn't have to worry about a software misload or something being set improperly. There's no good reason to locate a system unit in an audio studio. Don't do it. Likewise, there's no reason to put a CRT anyplace except maybe in the shop to save a dime. They make heat, physical noise,, and electrical noise. Dump them.

And you ought to have a good result.
 
Thanks for all your comments so far---PLEASE keep them coming =)

Unfortunately, mounting the machines in another room is NOT an option. We're out of room in our small building.

The way that we're configured the machines must go in the studios and rackmount is definitely the preference.
 
If you're going to roll your own system, call dave scott of SS32 fame ,he has new software he will sell you captain digital 1 866 888 0777. Prophet use to just sell the software, not sure if they sill do,when i bought nexgen 2 from them and built my own system.They do sell the ps101 software, just not sure about the Nexgen version. Tell Dave what you want,he can get it done.
 
Wow - good topic. I can totally relate to your "no space" problem - I've consulted a couple of stations that had a similar situation. At one of them, we outboarded the power connectors for all the case fans (but NOT the CPU fan) and had them switch off when the mic was turned on. That worked really well.

You might want to Google for the HTPC forums - they have a number of discussions over what components are the quietest, most air efficient, etc.
 
Rob Stutson said:
Wow - good topic. I can totally relate to your "no space" problem - I've consulted a couple of stations that had a similar situation. At one of them, we outboarded the power connectors for all the case fans (but NOT the CPU fan) and had them switch off when the mic was turned on. That worked really well.
Click to expand...

Hey, that's pretty slick! 8)

R
 
Rob Stutson said:
Wow - good topic. I can totally relate to your "no space" problem - I've consulted a couple of stations that had a similar situation. At one of them, we outboarded the power connectors for all the case fans (but NOT the CPU fan) and had them switch off when the mic was turned on. That worked really well.
Click to expand...

Rob, what did you end up doing about the hard drive(s) in the box? I see this being the only stumbling block. I actually want to try to put the OS on an 8 gig flash drive and see how performance is. I've heard of it being done, but I haven't tried it for myself as of yet.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
Rob, what did you end up doing about the hard drive(s) in the box? I see this being the only stumbling block. I actually want to try to put the OS on an 8 gig flash drive and see how performance is. I've heard of it being done, but I haven't tried it for myself as of yet.
Click to expand...

IIRC, they used a Maxtor drive that had a "quiet mode". It worked just fine for on air use. The flash "hard drives" are starting to come down in price, so maybe this might be the best solution: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...00636&Description=32gb&name=Solid+State+Disks
 
Flash drives are very slow compared to hard drives.

Stay away from Maxtor drives. Maxtor used to be a premium drive, but Seagate bought them a couple of years ago and has turned them into their low-end junk drives. Seagate has incorporated the better technology in the drives that carry the Seagate name. If you want confirmation, check the warranty, or google "Maxtor complaints".

For my money, I'd order a custom built system with an Intel motherboard and Intel processor, Seagate Barracuda ES.2 hard drive(s), at least a 350W power supply (more would be better, and redundant power supplies would be best) and as much RAM as you can afford. Put them under the console in an enclosed cabinet with plenty of breathing space and large, quiet fans to move air out of the enclosure.
 
DITTO on the Maxtor .i think there is a class action lawsuit being prepared against them.i like the seagate Barracuda and some of the western digital drives.nothing worse that having a 2 year old HD die on you.
 
Ditto to Seagate and WD drives. I've got new drives from both of them. The Seagate drive is an internal 300 Gig, and the WD is an external 500 Gig. The external is going to serve as a backup medium for numerous files. Once I have everrything I need on it, it's going into a fireproof safe. ;)

R
 
Mactor are the worst drives I ever had. A friend of mine had them in his first automation system and they died a quick and painful death. I bought a couple at Staples a couple of years ago as they were bargain priced and I regretted having them in the automation for my station - I switched to Western Digital and I think the only time I've ever replaced a WD drive was to upgrade the capacity of the storage system.
 
Here's the thing with hard drives, folks:

Everyone will have at least one bad experience with one brand or another. For some of you that's been Maxtor. For me - it was IBM (now Hitachi) and Western Digital. Did I stop buying those brands because of that bad experience? Yes, for a couple of years. Would I buy them today? Absolutely.

For some people hard drive brands are like automobile brands - they have their favorite and think that all the others suck.
 
Over-Drive

A lot of it has to do with consolidation in the computer industry. Where have we heard THAT story before.

A few years back, Western Digital had a few models that were worthy, but most were low-end junk. That's changed. There are still some models that aren't great, but some of their higher-end drives are very good.

I've already talked about Maxtor. Seagate made some very low-end crap, and some very high-end drives. Like Western Digital, you really have to pay attention to the model. The easy way to tell is usually by looking at the warranty. When you see a 90-day warranty, watch out. Seagate now offers a 5-year warranty on its high-end drives. That should tell you something.

There are other manufacturers out there. Toshiba makes great laptop drives. Samsung makes some fine hard drives that are very quiet. A little research goes a long way when you're picking storage for your system.
 
My Seagate has a 5 year warranty, so I guess I feel better now ;D

Can't say I've had hard drive issues at home. But at work, it's a different story. I had a hard drive go bad on a brand new computer in less than 6 months!
:eek:
R
 
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